How to increase your metabolism

HEALTH is in, and as people develop a deeper interest in the area, the more questions they’ve been asking pertaining to weight loss.

While dieting and exercise are essential to achieving most exercise goals, it is also important that people maintain a high metabolism which goes hand-in-hand with the whole process.

According to Jair Lyons, registered physical therapist, level one crossfit trainer and founder of Trueform Fitness, boosting your metabolism helps your body to increase the rate of weight or fat loss.

Below he tells All Woman some simple ways to easily boost your metabolism.

1. Drink plenty of water

Lyons said drinking eight ounces of chilled water first thing in the morning and continuing your water consumption throughout the day can boost your metabolic rate. “Simply put, your body raises its core temperature by increasing metabolic processes to warm up the water to the body’s temperature,” he said.

2. Have breakfast every morning

“Ensure you always eat breakfast to jump-start the body’s metabolic processes first thing in the morning and also make sure you eat healthily and regularly throughout the day to continuously fuel the body with just enough food it needs without over or under-eating,” Lyons said. He explained that this ensures the metabolic processes are always at work to use the fuel the body needs throughout the day with little storage.

3. Consume less alcohol

The physical therapist said it will help to skip the alcohol and miss a few nights at the bar. “When you drink, your body will tend to burn less fat because it will be too busy trying to burn off the alcohol, which inevitably slows down your metabolism,” he said.

4. Change exercise regimen

Lyons said to boost your metabolism you may want to change your exercise regimen and try using high intensity interval training. “This is using short, timed periods of exercise movements followed by equally short or even shorter periods of rest. This forces the body’s system to produce more energy faster to do the work,” he said. Lyons explained that this increase in energy comes from metabolic reactions, thus an increase in metabolism to sustain the activity.

5. Drink green tea

According to Lyons, for centuries the Chinese have been drinking green tea and enjoying its benefits, and in recent times we are now understating its powers as a strong antioxidant and metabolic booster. But he pointed out that the active ingredients are said to increase fat oxidation and energy from digestion. “So daily consumption also plays a role in increasing metabolism and fat loss,” he said.

6. Increase protein intake

Lyons said by simply increasing your protein intake you can encourage your body’s metabolic levels to increase. “Your body digests and processes proteins slower than fats or carbohydrates. Therefore your body expends more energy in the uptake of nutrients for a high-protein diet. The added benefit from a high-protein diet is the increase in lean muscle mass that it produces and preserves, which is the best fat burner of all,” he said.